updated 12:45 pm EDT, Mon March 16, 2009

Pioneer looks for partners

Japan's Pioneer is searching for a partner in the auto electronics business, according to Nikkei Business Daily. The company is currently said to be in negotiations with three main contenders -- Alpine, Clarion and Mitsubishi Electric -- in a bid to work on new auto electronics, such as car navigation systems. The company's reputation may also steer it further into the realm of audio, though no information to this effect has been revealed.

The move follows a massive shake-up at Pioneer, which recently cut 10,000 workers from its payroll and decided to abandon TV production, despite the prestige attached to its Kuro line of plasmas. Partnerships are meanwhile said to be increasingly common in the auto electronics industry; Clarion is now owned by Hitachi, while JVC and Kenwood have been merged under a holding company. More recently, Blaupunkt USA has been taken from Bosch by another holding company, the Aurelius Group.